Bio-Discovery and Benefit Sharing : Indonesian Case

Journal of Coastal Development ISSN : 1410-5217 Volume 12 Number 1 : 1-12 MARINE BIODISCOVERY RESEARCH IN INDONESIA : CHALLENGES AND REWARDS Ekowati Chasanah Research Centre for Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Biotechnology, Jl. KS Tubun, Petamburan VI, Jakarta 10260, Indonesia Received : June, 02, 2008 ; Accepted : August,27,2008 ABSTRACT Marine biodiscovery or bioprospecting activity is a search for marine products derived from marine biodiversity that can be developed for various industrial needs. Including in this activity is the process of identifying chemical compounds made by biological organisms which is often called natural product discovery. Indonesia, well known as a mega-diversity country, is one of the world hot sport of marine biodiversity. The richness of biodiversity is claimed as mirror of the richness of the chemical compounds, therefore, Indonesian waters might be rewarded with variety of chemical compounds thought to be an endless source of novel drugs and drug leads for pharmaceutical use. Up to 2007, at least 77 new compounds from 14 sponges and 19 new compounds from non-sponge organisms with pharmacological potential have been identified from Indonesian waters. To make this richness potentials becoming real in economic value, many factors should be considered. The bioactive is produced in small quantity, and the lengthy process from discovery step of a novel compound to the preclinical and clinical trials step is usually becoming a problem. Mari culture might be one among methods that can be developed in Indonesia to overcome the degradation hazard of marine resources. Conducive environment for investments, and improvement of technology on marine bioactive production through mariculture are factors to be improved to initiate and develop a sustainable biotechnology industries in Indonesia. Keywords : marine biodiscovery, Indonesia, pharmacological potential Correspondence : Phone : +62-21-53650158; +62-21-53650157; email : [email protected] INTRODUCTION Humans have been taking advantage of “Drug from the sea” started to boom marine chemical compounds present in after the 1967-symposium in Rhode Island marine organisms for various needs such as University (Fusetani, 2000). Marine natural food sources and disease remedies since products, especially secondary metabolite ancient times. For Indonesian people, compounds, are thought to be an endless chemical compounds present in marine as source of novel drugs and drug leads for well as the terrestrial organisms have pharmaceutical use. Richness of the popularly been used as “jamu”, a traditional chemical compounds in marine environment medicine, through indigenous knowledge generally positively correlated with the passed from one generation to generation richness of biodiversity in the environment since hundreds of years ago. 1 Journal of Coastal Development ISSN : 1410-5217 Volume 12 Number 1 : 1-12 Indonesia is one of the ten countries related Indonesian research institutions as with the richest biodiversity, and is often well as universities. Beginning in 1990, known as a mega-diversity country marine natural product research activities (Anonymous, 2003). In more than 20 years, have been started by Indonesian researchers. Indonesia has become a target for bioactive However, due to some limitations in marine natural product chemistry research, research resources, the progress is not and numbers of novel compounds and significant especially in the form of scientific papers have been published as international scientific papers, patent and cited in the following section. The commercial products. Mostly, biodiscovery uniqueness and richness of biological research activities done in Indonesia is diversity of Asia and Australia and the superficial (i.e preliminary screening transitional zone of the two continents is towards various biological activities), and present in Indonesia. This is supported by more depth activities are usually done in the geological history and topology of foreign country laboratories. Therefore, the Indonesia which is located in the products of invention of advance step such biodiversity path of the Asian continent as structure of novel compounds, including (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan) and Australia patent of their product and process are (Papua) and in the transitional zone of the usually under the properties of foreign- Wallace (Sulawesi, Maluku and Nusa researchers. Tenggara Islands). More than 75% of World marine natural products Indonesia’s area is marine with 81,000 km chemistry research, in more than 20 years, of shoreline, the second largest after Canada. has resulted many novel compounds, and This marine biodiversity is considered under some of them have been in the preclinical explored and not fully studied (Anonymous, test for further commercialization, while 2003; de Voogd, 2005). Therefore, some others are already commercialized Indonesian marine biodiversity has become (Faulkner, 2000). More than 2,700 research a target of world and domestic biodiscovery, papers concerning sponges, the most especially marine natural products chemistry secondary metabolite-rich compounds research. among marine organism, have been This review will cover natural published up to year 2000 (Fusateni, 2000). products chemistry research using There are approximately 850 species of Indonesian biota, both by Indonesian as well sponge are believed to be present in as foreign scientists. Organisms, both micro Indonesia (de Voogd & van Soest, 2002), and macro, used in these studies are from and up to 2007, at least 77 new compounds the entire Indonesian marine area, and from 14 sponges and 19 new compounds almost all marine. Sponge, gorgonian and from non-sponge organisms (soft coral, sea soft coral attracted more attention and more pen, octocoral and ascidians) with studied as being well known as rich sources pharmacological potential that will be of novel secondary metabolites. described below. Sponges BIODISCOVERY RESEARCH IN The distribution, ecological study as well as INDONESIA sponges bioactivity (based on its brine shrimp, Artemia salina, lethality assay) of Spermonde archipelago, Sulawesi were Marine biodiscovery research, including studied by de Voogd (2005). From the natural products chemistry, in Indonesia has study, nine (9) sponges were considered been actively conducted by several marine- potential to be developed. The sponge 2 Journal of Coastal Development ISSN : 1410-5217 Volume 12 Number 1 : 1-12 Acanthodendrilla sp. collected from Badi 1999). Further investigation on that sponge Island, Makasar, was investigated by revealed that three (3) new cyclic peptides, William et al. (2004), identifying barangamide B, C and D have been isolated meroterpenoid MAPKAP (MK2) inhibitor. along with four (4) new depsipeptides. Mapkap kinase-2 has important role in the Immunomodulatory test of these compounds regulation of TNF-α production, meaning showed that barangamide A exhibited no that the compound represents a potential immunosuppressive activity up to therapeutic agent to treat inflammatory concentration of 100 µg/mL, while all diseases. Boneratamides A-C, new theonellapeptolides showed mild activity sesquiterpenoids, were isolated from sponge (Roy et al., 2000). Axinyssa aplysinoides from the same Study on sponge Ianthella basta from surrounding Makasar waters (Williams Manado Bay resulted in two (2) more et al. 2004), while a new acyclic bastadins, i.e. bastadin 16 and bastadin 17. diketotriterpenoid has been isolated from Bastadin compounds are well known as Hyrtios erectus sponges, from the inner reef predominantly macrocyclic sponge of Ujung Pandang. This new compound was metabolite compounds (Park et al., 1994). biologically inactive, however, the crude Bobzin et al. (2000) used dereplication extract of the sponge had significant techniques to identify aaptamine from the antimitotic activity (Williams et al., 1999). sponge Aaptos sp. which was harvested From the sponge Stylissa carteri, harvested from Manado, northern Sulawesi, while from the waters in the same area, new Park et al. (1995) studied sponge Lufariella alkaloids latonduines A and B were isolated sp. from the same waters and isolated three by Linington et al. (2003), while two ( 3 ) metabolites, i.e. aaptamine, germacrene (2) new bromopyrrole alkaloids, i.e. alcohol and hexacyclic terpene. The debromostevensine and debromohymenin metabolites showed in vitro activity against were isolated from the same sponge species the KB cancer cell line. From the North collected from Ambon and Sulawesi waters Sulawesi sponge Theonella cf. swinhoei, (Eder et al., 1999). Chemical study of the bitungolides A-F have been isolated. The sponge Leucetta chagosensis from South bitungolides were claimed as a new class of Sulawesi waters found five (5) new Theonella metabolites that are capable of imidazole alkaloids, namely naamine F, inhibiting dual-specificity phosphatase VHR naamine G, kealiinine A, kealiinine B and (Sirirath et al., 2002). A study on a sponge kealiinine C (Hassan et al., 2004). Naamine from Knife cape, Manado Bay, resulted in G showed antifungal activity against seven (7) manzamine type alkaloid Cladosporium herbarum and mild compounds, i.e. two (2) β-carbolines and cytotoxicity against mouse lymphoma and five (5) nucleosides. Among them, five (5) human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell lines. new compounds were identified as 32,33- Crude extract of Phyllospongia sp. from dihydro-31-hydroxymanzamine A, 32,33- Makasar’s surrounding waters showed dihydro-6 -dihydroxymanzamine

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